As the art world turns its eyes to the West Coast for the second edition of Frieze Los Angeles—held at Paramount Pictures Studios, February 13–16—make sure to save some time after the fair for these shows across the city. From household names like Anish Kapoor to red-hot up-and-comers like Nicolas Party, here are the exhibitions worth adding to your LA itinerary this week.
“Cyprien Gaillard: Reefs to Rigs” at Sprüth Magers
February 11–March 21
Cyprien Gaillard, Ocean II Ocean (2019), film still. Courtesy the artist and Sprüth Magers.
Cyprian Gaillard’s new sculptures and photographs, as well as his film Ocean II Ocean, which premiered at the 2019 Venice Biennale, all feature subway systems from across the world. That makes Sprüth Magers—located above the site of a planned LA Metro station across from the La Brea Tar Pits—a fitting venue for the show.
Sprüth Magers is located at 5900 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California.
“50+50: A Creative Century from Chouinard to CalArts” at REDCAT
February 12–March 22
John Baldessari, Quack (2018). Published for CalArts by Lisa Ivorian-Jones, photo by Joshua White/JWPictures.com.
We’re coming up on a big year for the California Institute of the Arts: In 2021, CalArts turns 50, and its predecessor, the Chouinard Art Institute (founded by forgotten female artist Nelbert Chouinard) turns 100. In honor of the occasion, the school has commissioned limited-edition works from prominent alumni including Carrie Mae Weems, Laddie John Dill, and the late artist and educator John Baldessari. The proceeds from sales will go toward a new scholarship endowment.
REDCAT is located at 631 West 2nd Street, Los Angeles, California.
“Calida Rawles: A Dream for My Lilith” at Various Small Fires
February 12–March 14
Calida Rawles, Radiating My Sovereignty (2019). Photo courtesy of Various Small Fires.
Calida Rawles’s empowering paintings of black women floating in pools of cerulean water build on the mythological figure of Lilith—said to be Adam’s first wife—reclaiming this often demonized legend. Also worth a look are studies for Rawles’s illustration for the cover of Ta-Nehisi Coates’s debut novel, The Water Dancer.
Various Small Fires is located at 812 North Highland Avenue, Los Angeles, California.
“Arcmanoro Niles: I Guess By Now I’m Supposed To Be A Man: I’m Just Trying To Yesterday” at UTA Artist Space
February 12–March 14
Arcmandoro Niles, Never Know What Little Time We Had (I Lost The Nameless Things) (2019). Courtesy of the artist.
Pegged as one of the breakout artists of 2019, Arcmanoro Niles has his first LA solo show at UTA Artist Space with seven large-scale paintings offering quiet, introspective views of African-American men (and a few women), all rendered in otherworldly colors. Some of the canvases are haunted by enigmatic, cartoonish figures in the margins, adding further intrigue to these vibrant scenes.
UTA Artist Space is located at 403 Foothill Road, Beverly Hills, California.
“Pat Phillips: Summer Madness” at M+B
February 12–March 14
Work by Pat Phillips. Courtesy of M+B.
Pat Phillips—born in England, but raised in Lousiana—was a stand-out in the 2019 Whitney Biennial, where he installed a massive, mixed-media wall mural emblazoned with the words “Don’t Tread on Me.” The artist’s first Los Angeles solo show is full of paintings that capture violent confrontations fueled by hot summer weather and racial tensions.
M+B is located at 612 North Almont Drive, Los Angeles, California.
“Nicolas Party, Sottobosco” at Hauser & Wirth Los Angeles
February 13–April 12
Nicolas Party. Photo by Axel Dupeux, courtesy of Hauser & Wirth.
Nicolas Party’s debut exhibition at Hauser & Wirth—he joined the mega-gallery late last summer—continues his exploration of the still life, the landscape, and other well-worn painting genres, all inflected with cotton-candy colors and a dose of humor.
Hauser & Wirth Los Angeles is located at 901 East 3rd Street, Los Angeles, California.
“Kayode Ojo: Never Been Kissed” at Praz-Delavallade
February 14–March 28
Work by Kayode Ojo. Photo courtesy of Praz-Delavallade, Los Angeles.
With sculptures made from readymade objects that echo the human figure in their proportion and pose, Kayode Ojo calls out the absurdity of contemporary fashion and our image-obsessed culture. You might recognize the show’s title from the 1999 Drew Barrymore romantic comedy of the same name; other works in the show allude to the classic 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
Praz-Delavallade is located at 6150 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California.
“Zoya Cherkassky: Soviet Childhood” at Fort Gansevoort
February 15–March 28
Zoya Cherkassky, Mama (2019). Courtesy of Fort Gansevoort.
New York’s Fort Gansevoort opens a West Coast outpost with a continuation of a 2019 show of work by Zoya Cherkassky, inspired by her childhood in the waning days of the Soviet Union. Nostalgic and deeply personal, Cherkassky’s colorful, cartoon-like paintings are humorous and surprisingly optimistic, despite depicting a society on the verge of collapse.
Fort Gansevoort is located at 4859 Fountain Avenue, Los Angeles, California.
“Kathleen Ryan” at Francois Ghebaly
February 15–March 29
Detail of a work by Kathleen Ryan. Photo courtesy of François Ghebaly.
Kathleen Ryan had a standout piece at Art Basel Miami Beach, showing with London’s Josh Lilley. There isn’t any advance info on her big LA show at François Ghebaly yet, but the promo image suggests it will include sculptures of larger-than-life, overripe fruit made from semi-precious stones, glittering but suffused with rot. Tasty!
François Ghebaly is located at 2245 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California.
“Katherina Fritsch” at Matthew Marks
February 13–May 2
Katherina Fritsch, Hahn/Cock. Photo courtesy of Matthew Marks.
Katherina Fritsch has created a suite of three large-scale sculptures for her first Los Angeles solo show, each meticulously handcrafted over the last five years. The exhibition includes a new, indoor version of her iconic, giant blue rooster Hahn/Cock, originally commissioned for the Fourth Plinth in London’s Trafalgar Square, and now on view on the roof of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC (a second version of the rooster hangs out in the sculpture garden of the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis).
Matthew Marks is located at 1062 North Orange Grove Avenue, West Hollywood, California.
“Claire Tabouret” at Night Gallery
February 15–March 21
Claire Tabouret, Terin in her soccer outfit (2020). Courtesy of the artist and Night Gallery.
While previous bodies of Claire Tabouret’s paintings were based on found photographs, she offers a more personal take for her second show at Night Gallery, with portraits of close friends and family. The show also includes new works on paper inspired by Japanese woodblocks and 1960s Pop art, among other disparate influences.
Night Gallery is located at 2276 East 16th Street, Los Angeles, California.
“Anish Kapoor” at Regen Projects, Los Angeles
Through February 16
Installation view of “Anish Kapoor” at Regen Projects, Los Angeles. Photo courtesy of Regen Projects, Los Angeles.
Anish Kapoor’s reflective, stainless-steel sculptures continue to confound the eye with their warped forms, like the alternatingly concave and convex surfaces of the monumental new piece Double S-Curve, the star of this show. It’s a bit like if Richard Serra designed a funhouse.
Regen Projects is located at 6750 Santa Monica Boulevard, Los Angeles, California.
“Edward and Nancy Kienholz: The Merry-Go-World or Begat by Chance and the Wonder Horse Trigger” at LA Louver
Through February 22
Edward and Nancy Reddin Kienholz, The Merry-Go-World or Begat by Chance and the Wonder Horse Trigger (1988–92). Photo courtesy of the estate of Nancy Reddin Kienholz/LA Louver.
Ed and Nancy Reddin Keinholz’s large-scale sculpture The Merry-Go-World and Begat by Chance and The Wonder Horse Trigger returns to Los Angeles for the first time since its 1992 debut, which was also at LA Louver. Viewers can go inside the stationary carousel after spinning a wheel of fortune that serves up one of eight possible lives: five impoverished, two middle class, and one rich, in reflection of the global distribution of wealth. (One wonders if those odds have gotten worse since the work was made.)
LA Louver is located at 45 North Venice Boulevard, Venice, Los Angeles, California.
“Whitney Bedford: Reflections on the Anthropocene” at Vielmetter Los Angeles
Through February 22
Whitney Bedford, Veduta (Munch), 2019. Photo by Evan Bedford, courtesy of the artist and Vielmetter Los Angeles.
Drawing on the history of “view paintings” made by artists before the dawn of photography, Whitney Bedford’s “Veduta” series aim to illustrate the effects that mankind has had on the natural landscape. It’s a savvy way of using art history to underscore the unavoidable reality of climate change.
Vielmetter Los Angeles is located at 1700 South Santa Fe Avenue #101, Los Angeles, California.
“Carter Seddon: Souvenir” at Jenny’s
Through February 22
Carter Seddon, Cafe (2019). Photo courtesy of Jenny’s.
Carter Seddon shot the 13 images in his current show on 35mm film and developed them in postcard-sized silver gelatin prints. Taken together, the tiny details—an egg, an ear, a brick wall—add up to something strange and new.
Jenny’s is located at 4220 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, California.
“Transformer: Kristy Luck” at Philip Martin
Through February 22
Kristy Luck, Black Sun (2019). Courtesy of Philip Martin Gallery.
Los Angeles-based artist Kristy Luck paints colorful, abstract landscapes that represent the female psyche, commenting on antiquated stereotypes of women in melancholic or revelatory states.
Philip Martin is located at 2712 South La Cienega Boulevard, Los Angeles, California.
“Joe Sola: I Drove to San Francisco and Back” at Honor Fraser
Through February 27
Joe Sola, Beach with Rocks (2020). Photo courtesy of Honor Fraser.
Joe Sola presents new digital prints created with the virtual-reality program Maya. They include surreal desert landscapes, as well as portraits of a farmer and a hippy standing in a server farm that’s slowly filling with blood. The exhibition also includes a VR work starring OJ Simpson, and an interactive piece meant to critique the average internet user’s willingness to blindly sign waivers without bothering to read and review the terms and conditions.
Honor Fraser is located at 2622 South La Cienega Boulevard, Los Angeles, California.
“Naama Tsabar: Inversions” at Shulamit Nazarian
Through February 29
Installation view of “Naama Tsabar: Inversions” at Shulamit Nazarian. Photo courtesy of Shulamit Nazarian.
Naama Tsabar’s first solo show in California includes sculptural interventions that transform the gallery’s architecture by cutting into the walls, creating interactive musical performance spaces where one must crawl inside to play the instruments. There will be free live performances by the artist (RSVP here) at the gallery on February 11 and 12 at 7:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. Performances will follow at Frieze on February 13 at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. and February 14 and 15 at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m.
Shulamit Nazarian is located at 616 North La Brea Avenue, Los Angeles, California.
“Gisela Colon: Meta Minimal” at Gavlak Gallery, Los Angeles
Through March 7
“Gisela Colon: Meta Minimal” installation view at Gavlak Gallery, Los Angeles (2020). Photo courtesy of Gavlak Gallery, Los Angeles.
Seeking to capture the energy of living things, Gisela Colon describes her practice—featuring smooth, sculptural forms with shimmering layers of iridescent or translucent colors—as “organic minimalism.” The artist reclaims traditionally fraught phallic forms in her carbon fiber “Monolith” series, with a 12-foot-tall example, Untitled (Projectile Monolith White Iridium), serving as the exhibition’s centerpiece.
Gavlak Gallery is located at 1700 South Santa Fe Avenue, Suite 440, Los Angeles, California.
“Parker Ito: Longevity Buns” at Chateau Shatto
Through March 7
Parker Ito, Longevity Buns (2020). Courtesy of Chateau Shatto.
Parker Ito has transformed the Chateau Shatto gallery space with an installation of sculptures, paintings, and videos, linked with connective cords and chains.
Chateau Shatto is located at 1206 S. Maple Ave. Suite 1030, Los Angeles, California.
“Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe: Black Like Me” at Roberts Projects
Through March 7
Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe makes powerful oil paintings of black men and women, deploying a juxtaposition of colorful clothing with skin and hair painted in grayscale that can be reminiscent of Amy Sherald. It’s the first US outing for the Ghanian artist, who finds his subjects both through social media and IRL, depicting friends and colleagues as well as strangers he meets on the street.
Roberts Projects is located at 5801 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, California.
“Hank Willis Thomas: An All Colored Cast” at Kayne Griffin Corcoran
Through March 7
Hank Willis Thomas, “People just like to look at me” (Spectrum IX), 2019 (variation without flash). Courtesy of Kayne Griffin Corcoran.
Continuing to probe issues of race, gender, and identity, Hank Willis Thomas looks to Hollywood history for his first show with Kayne Griffin Corcoran, featuring sculptures and retroreflective prints activated by flash photography and based on found images from film archives. The exhibition is inspired by screen-color calibration charts, which were designed to make white people look good on camera; the works ask the viewer to reconsider loaded language like “color correction” and “white balance.”
Kayne Griffin Corcoran is located at 1201 South La Brea Avenue, Los Angeles, California.
“Eric N. Mack: Face It” at Morán Morán
Through March 9
![Eric Mack, Parade (2016) [detail]. Courtesy of the artist and Moran Moran.](https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2020/01/Untitled-2-1-1500x1000-1024x683.jpg)
Eric Mack, Parade (2016), detail. Courtesy of the artist and Moran Moran.
Much of the work in Eric N. Mack’s new show is based on images from old magazines, sometimes blown up to as large as 10 by 32 feet and applied directly to the gallery walls. The exhibition also includes large-scale textile installations with panels of different colored and patterned fabrics sewn together.Morán Morán is located at 937 North La Cienega Boulevard, Los Angeles, California.
“Jellyfish” at Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles
Through March 13
Rashid Johnson, Jellyfish (2011). Photo courtesy of Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles.
Artists including Carl Andre, Andy Warhol, Donald Judd, Eddie Martinez, George Condo, and Rashid Johnson—as well as Barbara Kruger and Austyn Weiner, who appear to be the only women in a very dude-heavy line-up—feature in this group show organized by gallery director Samantha Glaser-Weiss.
Kohn Gallery is located at 1227 North Highland Avenue, Los Angeles, California.
“New Images of Man” at Blum & Poe
Through March 14
Niki de Saint Phalle, Marilyn (1964). Photo by André Morin, courtesy of Niki Charitable Art Foundation.
In 1959, the great curator and art historian Peter Selz, who died last June at the age of 100, organized “New Images of Man” at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, with works by the likes of Francis Bacon, Jackson Pollock, and Richard Diebenkorn. Over 60 years later, Blum & Poe has tapped Alison M. Gingeras to revisit the exhibition, with some of the original artists included alongside female contemporaries who were overlooked at the time, such as Alina Szapocznikow, Lee Lozano, and Niki de Saint Phalle.
Blum & Poe is located at 2727 South La Cienega Boulevard, Los Angeles, California.
“Huma Bhabha” at David Kordansky, Los Angeles
Through March 14
Installation view of “Huma Bhabha” at David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles.
Pakistan-born, New York-based artist Huma Bhabha, who makes sculptural magic with cork, foam, metal, and wood, gets her first solo show with David Kordansky. A group of four-faced figures recall her otherworldly large-scale sculpture for the rooftop commission at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of art in 2018.
David Kordansky is located at 5130 West Edgewood Place, Los Angeles, California.
“Devin B. Johnson: Melody of a Memory” at Nicodim
Through March 21
Devin B. Johnson, Black Madonna (2019). Courtesy of Nicodim.
Featuring a dramatic play of light and shadow, Devin B. Johnson’s surreal portraits are based on digital collages that blend historical and personal images. The artist, who is one of the inaugural residents at Kehinde Wiley’s Black Rock Senegal residency, created the show almost as if it were a concept album, imagining each painting as its own love song.
Nicodim is located at 1700 S Santa Fe Avenue, #160, Los Angeles, California.
“Dennis Hopper: Morocco Paintings” at Parrasch Heijnen
Through March 21
One of Dennis Hopper’s “Morocco Paintings.” Photo courtesy of Parrasch Heijnen.
Actor and film director Dennis Hopper was also an artist and photographer; he began painting way back in the mid-1950s. The late star’s first show at Parrasch Heijnen features his series of “Morocco Paintings” (1991–94), made on location when Hopper was filming in the country, merging tropes from local architecture with influences from Abstract Expressionism.
Parrasch Heijnen Gallery is located at 1326 S. Boyle Avenue, Los Angeles, California.
“Richard Prince: New Portraits” at Gagosian Beverly Hills
Through March 21
Richard Prince, Untitled (Portrait), 2015. Photo by Jeff McLane, courtesy of Gagosian.
In the press release for his new show, Richard Price offers an in-depth explanation for his infamous Instagram portrait series. The project’s roots date back to 1984, when the appropriation artist offered to take his friend’s portraits by rephotographing his favorite of five existing images provided by the subject. In describing his artistic process, Prince sums up the experience of falling down an Instagram rabbit hole: “Wow, now it’s four in the morning.” The big question here, though, is: Who will sue Prince this time around?
Gagosian Beverly Hills is located at 456 North Camden Drive, Beverly Hills, California.
“Lisa Oppenheim: The Eternal Substitute” at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery
Through March 21
Installation view of “Lisa Oppenheim: The Eternal Substitute” at Tanya Bonakdar. Photo courtesy of Tanya Bonakdar.
Lisa Oppenheim turns to the history of photography in four bodies of work inspired by celluloid film, used in the early years of cinematography. Referencing’s celluloid’s combustive properties, Oppenheim’s “Smoke” series features found photographs of fires and explosions. In a dramatic twist, she solarized the prints by exposing them to an open flame.
Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, 1010 North Highland Avenue, Los Angeles, California.
“Aidan Koch: Always put the rock back” at Park View/Paul Soto, Los Angeles
Through March 28
Aidan Koch, Two Horses in a Forest (2020). Courtesy of the artist and Park View/Paul Soto.
Aidan Koch presents new works, including gouache and pastel paintings and animations, inspired by a desire to care for and protect nature and the landscape. The show’s title is taken from a sweet note left by a child on the bulletin board at an estuarine reserve in Washington State, asking visitors to protect the animals that live under rocks at the beach by making sure to “always put the rock back on.”
Park View/Paul Soto is located at 2271 W. Washington Boulevard, Los Angeles, California.
“Gracie DeVito: Motion Picture Seaweed” at Overduin & Co.
Through March 28
Work by Gracie Devito. Photo courtesy of Overduin & Co.
Los Angeles-based artist Gracie DeVito has made twelve new abstract paintings for her new show, often starting with used painter’s cloths from her studio.
Overduin & Co. is located at 6693 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, California.
“All of Them Witches” at Jeffrey Deitch, Los Angeles
Through April 11
Ellen Birkenblit, Electric Lace (2018). Courtesy of Jeffrey Deitch.
Dan Nadel and Laurie Simmons curated this very timely group show featuring artists who all cast a spell. (Everyone knows that witches are very in right now.) Nadel and Simmons have gathered an expansive coven, with everyone from Marilyn Minter and Trenton Doyle Hancock to Lisa Yuskavage and Judy Chicago.
Jeffrey Deitch, Los Angeles is located at 925 North Orange Drive, Los Angeles, California.